


Breaking The Fourth Wall

by carzla



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dungeons and Dragons, Fluff, M/M, Tabletop RPGs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:12:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5796460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carzla/pseuds/carzla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After too many hunts in a row, it was decided that downtime was definitely needed. But the Winchesters aren’t all that well-versed with handling a vacation. Luckily for them, Charlie knew just the thing to kick-start an impromptu holiday: Dungeons and Dragons. Besides, if other things came up and then evolved during the course of the game… All the better!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking The Fourth Wall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lyrial](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrial/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Lyrial! I hope you'll like this! 8D
> 
> This is so not beta-read... not even proof-read by myself because it is almost 4am now on Lyrial's birthday itself, and I am tired because there hadn't been time to write birthday fanfic on weeknights because RL worklife. So this is probably not my best. Apologies for any mistakes/incoherence in advance!
> 
> [EDIT: 24/1/2016, 23:40 UTC +08:00] Also, because I forgot when I first posted, Happy Birthday, Dean~! :D [/EDIT]

It all started with Charlie, as most strange (but not in the supernatural sense) things were wont to do.

It had been after a particularly tough hunt – though nowhere near world-ending levels of toughness. Actually, if they had been well-rested for the hunt, it would probably have gone okay. But that had been the last one of a series of back-to-back hunts with barely a breather in between. So a tiny little slip of attention had gotten them very badly beaten and bruised, and Dean had to admit they really weren’t getting any younger and it was getting harder to just shake it off. It probably would’ve turned even more dangerous if Cas hadn’t heard his prayer for help and popped up in the nick of time.

Maybe next time he’d take up Cas’s offer to accompany them on all the hunts, no matter how big or small they were.

So anyway, after that, they’d gone back to the bunker and Cas had been very insistent that they take no more jobs for a good while. He’d even learnt a thing or two and found back-up in Charlie. And that’s where it all started.

For all that they agreed taking a break was crucial right now, neither he nor Sam knew what it really entailed. Sam had more of an idea, but he was still kind of a workaholic. Needless to say, Cas had only truly learned the meaning of “relaxation” when he got to know the Winchesters and hung around on Earth more often. Therefore, it fell to Charlie to teach them the skill of relaxing, because even Kevin tended towards nerdy, studying-all-day bookworm for most of his life despite a love for video games when he could afford to play them.

Somehow, that led to Charlie insisting that they play Dungeons and Dragons out of all the things they could do. Once that was settled, it was time to break out the rulebooks for the newbie players. Which was everyone but Charlie and Kevin, and even then, Kevin wasn’t familiar with the 5th edition because he’d spent the last few years on the run instead of checking out table-top RPGs.

So, all in all, it took some explanation. Well, maybe a lot of explanation would be more accurate because of Cas. It was a combined effort between Charlie and Kevin, and Dean was pretty sure at one point Kevin had contemplated strangling Cas out of sheer frustration. In the end, Dean had had to tell Cas to _“just roll with it, man, it’s a just a game”_ so that they could get started on _something_.

Their trial runs to let everyone who hadn’t really played Dungeons and Dragons before, which was pretty much everyone but Kevin and Charlie, get used to the game mechanics and just roleplaying in general had started with a few hiccups.

_“That is clearly a stupid thing to do,” Cas said. “Why would you make your character walk into the trap when you know it’s a trap?”_

_“Cas, I, as in I, Dean Winchester, know that that’s a trap. But Han, my character, failed his Perception check so **he** doesn’t know it’s a trap, and because of how his personality is, he would go charging in even if all of us players know that it’s a dumbass move. That’s why this is roleplaying.”_

_“But-”_

Eventually, Cas had gotten the hang of differentiating between what players knew and what their characters actually knew, and putting it into practice. It may have taken an analogy that used God and humanity that had gotten kind of depressing for everyone involved, fast… But it worked. It was also never, ever mentioned again.

So now, it had been almost two weeks since their last hunt, and they were all engrossed in the D&D campaign Charlie was running. Sam had called dibs on a Wizard character, and everyone had agreed it was still best for Cas to play someone who was kind of like himself, and thus he ended up being a Paladin. That left Kevin and him to decide between a Cleric or a Druid class so they’d have a healer, and a Rogue so they’d have a person who could sneak around and disable traps. In the end, it wasn’t really too hard to predict that he would opt for being the Rogue, which left Kevin as their Cleric.

Charlie, as the DM, had set up a campaign that was of the treasure-hunting variety, and Cas had given his character, Steve, a plausible reason as to why a paladin would bother to go hunt for treasure. ( _“Huh. You’re really getting the hang of it,” Kevin commented. “I had despaired.”_ ) It was a change of pace from their usual lives, to pretend to be seeking treasure instead of seeking out monsters to kill. Sure, there were enemy encounters and monster encounters, but it wasn’t like their characters were deliberately seeking out this form of danger. It was a change of pace from their usual lives.

Maybe that was precisely why Charlie chose to design such a campaign. She could be clever and sneaky that way.

In any case, their characters had just defeated a bandit gang that had been hiding out in the abandoned castle their party had travelled to whilst in search of the elusive ancient artefact. It had been kind of close, because all of them had somehow missed the signs of a third party being around and had been taken by surprise. Which sucked. What sucked even more was that Cas’s character would most likely be pissed off at Dean’s character because well, what d’ya know, it had been his rogue who’d assured everyone that there was definitely no way anyone would be hanging around a decrepit castle, especially since the information about treasure hiding there was so sparse and dodgy.

Sure enough, Cas, oh sorry, _Steve,_ rounded on Tony.

* * *

 

_“Did that look like an ‘empty, shithole of a castle’ to you?” Steve growled out, taking a step closer to Tony as he did so._

_"Whoops?”_

_“Is that all you have to say?” the paladin thundered, drawing so close that Tony reflexively took a step back just so he could breathe._

_Tony got a little defensive. “Hey, so I got some bad information! But none of you noticed that we weren’t alone until we were ambushed! Don’t lay the blame all on me!”_

_“Fine,” Steve gritted out. “Then what about that utterly, **stupid and reckless move** you made getting in between me and the bandit leader?”_

_“I saved your life, you **ungrateful bastard!** ”_

* * *

 

“Do you think they even realize that they’re basically in their own little world now?” Kevin whispered to Charlie. “Like seriously, it applies to both Steve and Tony, _and_ Dean and Castiel.”

Charlie smirked. It was all going according to plan. She was a genius! “Nah, I doubt it. But let’s just give them a little longer before I exercise DM powers and stop this from getting out of hand.”

At that, Sam snorted a little. He’d suspected something was up with playing D&D. Not that he didn’t like to have downtime, and not that he hadn’t been enjoying the game… but Charlie clearly had an ulterior motive. One he heartily approved of.

“Well,” Kevin replied, still in a whisper, “I’ll have Aria break into the conversation.” He cast another glance at Dean and Cas, who were still in character (supposedly), and wryly revised that statement to, “Well, she’ll try to anyway.”

* * *

 

_“Steve, Tony, stop it,” Aria interjected. She hoped to diffuse the situation before it got to the stage of a shouting match._

_However, it didn’t seem as if Steve or Tony had heard her._

_“Which one of us is the heavily armored one?” Steve demanded, but did not wait for Tony to give a reply. “ **Me!** I’m the one in the plate mail and you’re just… not!”_

_“I can handle myself! I saw it coming and I knew I could intercept him! So what if you’re covered head-to-toe in shiny-ass armor?! One good hit at your weak spot, and you’d bleed out so fast you wouldn’t even know what hit you!” Tony snarled back, getting right up in Steve’s face._

_“And they wouldn’t even **need** to get in a lucky hit for your case!”_

* * *

 

Sam watched Cas and Dean get progressively more and more agitated and he was rather hard pressed to say whether they were staying in character, or their actual unresolved issues had spilled over. He wouldn’t even call it character bleed because Steve the Paladin and Tony the Rogue bore a good amount of similarity to Castiel and Dean. Even Sam would admit that his own wizard, Benedict, was quite a bit like him in real life, so that wasn’t really a big deal.

But well, Dean and Cas were _really_ getting into it. The space between their physical bodies had also shrunk as their fictional argument went on, and really, they were in each other’s personal bubble so much it had to be uncomfortable for normal people! But because this was his brother and their angel friend… well, that tiny amount of space between them was really just a normal day for them.

He thought about letting Benedict interrupt them, try to interrupt them. But then caught Charlie’s eye, and she gave him a subtle shake of her head. Well. If the DM said so…

He’d just stay back and watch the show.

* * *

 

_“Why’re you so bothered, anyway? Don’t trust my skills? Scared I’d turn around and join them instead? Just… **what?** ”_

_“Of all the foolish things to say… Do you really **not** know?”_

_“Know what?”_

* * *

 

Charlie had been expecting this. Kind of. It was part of her plan to get Dean and Cas to admit their undying love for each other via their D&D characters. She didn’t quite expect how Cas did it.

Right after Tony had demanded, “Know what?” Castiel had physically hauled Dean by his shirt towards him – not that there had been a great distance to cross – and then planted one right on Dean’s mouth.

As dense as Dean could be sometimes, Charlie really, _really_ doubted that even he could pass it off as Cas keeping in character. Keeping in character would mean Cas saying that _Steve_ hauled _Tony_ in for a kiss. He didn’t actually need to do it to Dean. And wow, would you look at that? Dean was actually kissing back!

Yesssss! Operation Destiel was a rousing success!

* * *

 

Dean could safely say that he did _not_ see that coming. He’d been getting really into it as Tony, because seriously, the things that Steve was pissed about were just absurd! There was a part of him that had been wondering if he weren’t channelling too much of his actual issues into his character, but whatever, he silenced that part of him so it wouldn’t distract him. Roleplaying was serious business.

Then Cas reached over and pretty much hauled him in for a kiss. A kiss that was fierce and almost all teeth until they both seem to sync with each other’s motions and then there were no longer awkward clashing of teeth. Instead, their mouths seemed to fit perfectly, and it was just… the most wonderful kiss he had ever experienced in his entire life. Because there was, mixed with all the frustration at Dean being so dense, and the passion because they’d always had a profound bond, was, dare he say it, _love._

God, he could be such an idiot sometimes. Because he’d been in love with Cas for what felt like forever now, and despite supposedly being the one with more experience in relationships, it was Cas taking a leap of faith. As always. Because Cas had too much heart with regards to everyone, but mostly Dean, and this time, Dean was glad for it because he honestly wasn’t sure how long it would take otherwise if he’d been left to muddle this thing between them out on his own.

“Finally!” Kevin’s voice broke through the bubble of his and Castiel’s world and finally, finally they pulled away from each other.

Dean turned to look at Kevin, who was slightly red in the face, but wearing a shit-eating grin that Dean wouldn’t have thought was possible on Kevin before the past couple of years. “I say that for both Aria and myself,” Kevin added.

Sam was politely looking away until the kiss had ended, but he too had some words to add. “Good. The pining and UST vibes I was getting _and_ Benedict was getting from you two will finally be gone!”

“Shut up, Sammy!”

“Hey, no, don’t go all defensive now. You two deserve to be happy, and you two deserve to be together, okay?”

“Thank you, Sam,” Cas replied warmly.

“Jeez, okay, no need to get all chick-flick on us now.”

The moment was then broken by Charlie. “Yes! Mission accomplished!”

It then dawned on Dean that this… this entire thing was a setup. “Really, Charlie?”

“Hey, gotta admit it, it worked! Besides, I knew you guys would like Dungeons and Dragons, and I was right. This whole… Operation Destiel thing was just a bonus! Am I not the world’s best and sneakiest matchmaker, yes or yes?”

Even though he twitched a little at hearing “Operation Destiel”, Dean magnanimously let it slide without comment. “Alright, alright, you’re the best matchmaker anyone could have, Charlie!”

“And sneakiest! Don’t forget that!”

“That too,” Dean replied, conceding the point.

He hadn’t suspected a single thing going into the game. He didn’t think anyone else had either, least of all Cas. Cas who was smiling at him dopily, happiness writ clear on his face. Damn, he really wanted to kiss him again. And he could! Although, the others probably wouldn’t be too happy about it if he and Cas started making out again. And make out _properly_ at that, because that kiss earlier was more than fine, but there hadn’t been that much… hands-on action, and now, that he was thinking about it, he really, _really_ wanted some hands-on time.

“So, in light of how Cas and I have just admitted our feelings to each other,” he announced, “I think you guys will forgive us if we… adjourn our gaming session for today?”

There was a beat of less than two seconds before Sam reacted.

“Ew, Dean. Really?”

“Hey, we’ve been beating around the bush for _years_ now. Did you think I’d wait longer to tap that now that I can?”

“Well, in the interest of everyone’s sanity, we shall end today’s session early,” Charlie announced. “We’ll pick up when… the two of you are done. That said, I’m letting you two go off and do the do, but that’s not going to be the case for Steve and Tony, capiche?”

Cas nodded seriously. “Capiche.”

“Then bye, guys! Use soundproofing!”

* * *

 

About a day later, Charlie entered the kitchen to find, to her surprise, Castiel sitting there with a mug of cinnamon hot chocolate, waiting for her. He gave her a smile and then passed the mug to her. So this was… thank you hot chocolate? Awesome.

“Thank you, Charlie. For going along with my idea,” Cas said earnestly.

“No biggie! You two are so destined for each other. You’re like the mother of all OTPs! I’m glad to have been able to play a part in getting you two together!”

“Nonetheless, thank you so much.”

Charlie waved him off. “Seriously, it’s all good. No need to keep thanking me! I mean, you even made me seriously amazing cinnamon hot chocolate! By which I take it to mean that Dean didn’t suspect anything?”

Castiel’s smile turned slightly devious then.

“No, he’s still unaware that I planned this with you. I’ll probably tell him… in time.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> So a quick rundown of their D&D alter-egos:  
> Dean = Tony (Human, Male, Street Urchin, Rogue), though really I think I would've made Dean play a Fighter or multiclass Fighter/Rogue but this was written very, very last minute and so...  
> Cas = Steve (Aasimar, Male, Noble, Paladin), well if anyone knows what I write for other fandoms, you will also know that Steve and Tony are not given by accident... But Cas _has_ canonically gone by the alias Steve, and Dean has referred to himself and Sam as "Agents Stark and Banner", so. There's my justification. xP  
>  Sam = Benedict (Human, Male, Sage, Wizard), the naming is pretty much for my own benefit. xD  
> Kevin = Aria (Half-Elf, Female, Acolyte, Cleric), which was inspired by Osric's Ariel cosplay and so yes, Aria is a redhead too.
> 
> Andddd that's it for me. Time to go sleep...


End file.
